


apparition

by nowrunalong



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-11 14:42:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3329894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nowrunalong/pseuds/nowrunalong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clara is on a road trip in her dad’s old car when it breaks down. Two hours later, a woman appears out of thin air.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. arrival

Clara had no idea where she was.

Whose clever idea had it been to go for a road trip in the middle of nowhere without a map? In her dad’s old car?

Right.

Hers.

And of course, to add insult to the injury, her phone was dead. She’d been waiting til she got to her next overnight stop to charge it up.

It was getting dark and Clara doubted that many people passed by here. She didn’t have a lot of options, though. It was either walk or wait. Because she appeared to be lost, Clara concluded that waiting was probably the better idea.

She read one of the few books she’d packed til the sun set over the hills and plunged her into relative blackness. There were no street lights out here. Fishing a flashlight out of her bag, she decided, against her better judgment, to continue to read by its light. Well, she _did_ have spare batteries. 

She waited, but no one came.

One car passed without slowing; either the driver hadn’t noticed her stopped there or he didn’t care.

Clara wondered if she should stand outside—that way people would know immediately that she needed help—but so much time elapsed between passing cars and it was getting chilly out. She shivered and grabbed a scarf from the back seat, wrapping it around her shoulders.

When she turned back around to look out the window again, her breath caught in her throat.

The air in front of her car seemed to quiver and quake, becoming darker and more solid until the figure of a woman appeared.

Clara blinked.

The woman was facing away from her and was wearing a large backpack over a t-shirt, despite the cool night air. She had light blonde hair tied in a ponytail, which swished when she bent her head down to look at something she was holding.

That this woman was here _was not possible._

She’d probably just drifted off, reasoned Clara. She was dreaming right now. 

Still, she needed to make sure. Clara pinched her arm, hard.

It hurt.

She couldn’t entirely suppress the small yelp that escaped her and the impossible apparition pivoted around to look right at her.

The woman looked young; perhaps Clara’s age. The moonlight illuminated her pointed features; she was beautiful.

This fueled the voices at the back of Clara’s head, telling her to be fearful—after all, villains in her storybooks were always described as either hideous or _flawless_ in appearance—but instead she was… skeptical. Who the hell was this lady? Where had she come from? She narrowed her eyebrows, opened the door halfway, and stuck her head out.

“What are you doing there?”

The woman seemed delighted that Clara was speaking to her.

“Ah, hello! I’ve no idea! Where am I?” 

She had a pleasant voice.

“Do I look like I know? Been stuck here in the dark for at least two hours.”

“Stuck how?”

“My car broke down. I’m waiting for a lift into the nearest town to spend the night before I call someone to tow it to a repair shop.”

“Ahh.” The woman nodded knowledgeably. “Cars. Vehicles powered by an internal combustion engine and able to transport a small number of people.”

Clara gave her a strange look.

“Don’t suppose you know how to fix said engine, do you? Or whatever else might be wrong with it?”

“Nope!” The blonde woman frowned. “Well, maybe. I don’t have much experience with cars, but they can’t be too complicated. I’d need more light to see the parts, though.”

“I’ve got a flashlight.”

“I’d need more light than that little one.”

“Well, then. Nevermind that. You can answer a few questions. Number one. How did you get here? You just appeared out of thin air.”

Clara may have been stuck on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere, but that wasn’t going to stop her from taking charge of her situation. She was going to _make_ this make sense.

If the woman found this change of subject to be sudden or intrusive at all, it didn’t show.

“Vortex manipulator!”

“I’m sorry?” Clara stared.

“I borrowed the newest model of vortex manipulator from some bloke. Well, I say borrowed…” The blonde grinned apologetically. "Used to have a spaceship, but this is quicker. One press of a button and you’re off to anywhere at all!”

“I’d love to be off to a warm bed,” muttered Clara to herself. More loudly; “Spaceship. Magic teleporter. Right. Of course.” She sighed. Well, what had she expected? A reasonable scientific explanation?

If someone could drive by right now and stop to give her a lift out of this weird situation, that would be incredible.

Clara considered shutting her door again, but strange company was admittedly better than none at all and the temperature inside the car had already dropped down to match the outside air.

“I could give you a lift!”

The woman made her offer so genuinely that Clara almost stopped and considered it. Almost.

“With your magic teleporter,” she asked, deadpan.

Instead of correcting her, the blonde just bobbed her head up and down.

“Yep!”

“I don’t think so. I’m good here.”

“Why not? It’s perfectly safe!”

“There’s no such thing as a magic teleporter.”

“What if I prove it to you?”

Clara laughed.

“Go ahead.”

The woman lifted her arm and turned a little dial on the device around her wrist before waving at Clara and pushing a button.

Immediately, she de-materialized the same way she’d come—

—And re-appeared in the passenger seat in Clara’s car.

Clara jumped back, nearly knocking her head against her window.

“What the hell’d you do that for? You scared me half to death!”

“I wanted to appear somewhere you’d still be able to see me!"

There was something innocent about her voice that made Clara believe that she hadn’t intended to frighten her, but she was still mildly annoyed. She could have been given an advance warning, at least.

“So, want a lift?”

Clara frowned. “How do I know you won’t take me to Mars or something?”

“I’d take you wherever you like. Not Mars, though. You wouldn’t like Mars. Very cold and unfriendly.”

“Right.” Clara paused. “New question. Are you sure you’re not playing tricks on me?”

“Do I seem like I am?”

“Had to ask. Okay. How could you possibly give me a lift, hmm? That thing is clearly meant to transport a single person.”

Did she really just ask that as if magic tele— _vortex manipulators_ —were real?

But she couldn’t deny what she’d seen.

“You just hold onto me when I press the button. It’s quite simple, really!” The mysterious blonde smiled.

Clara couldn’t keep thinking of her as “the mysterious blonde”, especially not if she was going to trust her to _teleport_ her into town.

“What’s your name, anyway? I’m Clara."

“Jenny!”

“Alright. Great.” Clara stopped to think before formulating her next question. "So, Jenny. Can I get a lift into town?”

She was probably going to regret this.

Jenny beamed.

“Yes!”

Clara grabbed her wallet and stuffed it into her pocket.

She didn't grab a bag; she could sleep in her clothes for one night.

Jenny turned the little dial on her teleporter again and offered the other woman her arm.

After a beat, Clara took it warily.

“Ready?”

“No. But go ahead, I guess.”

Half-expecting nothing to happen, Clara watched as Jenny pressed the button on her device.

As soon as she did, the world around them began to disappear. Clara felt a little bit like she was being squeezed from all sides; she tightened her grip on Jenny’s arm. Soon she could see nothing at all, though she could still sense the other woman’s presence. Seconds later, colour began to return and Clara was met briefly by the solid feeling of pavement beneath her boots before she toppled to the ground, dragging Jenny down with her.

Her head was spinning.

Jenny laughed and got back up, tugging on Clara’s hand.

“Look, I did it! Town!”

Clara looked up from the ground, her eyes blinking open slowly. It was much brighter here—wherever _here_ was—than it had been in her broken-down car.

Wait a minute… Didn’t she recognize that tower? These lights?

“We’re in Blackpool! Why did you take me to Blackpool?!”

“Well I didn’t have any specific coordinates, so it’s working a bit randomly right now! Reads thought patterns, though. I helped us stay on the same planet. You helped us get here.”

Clara got to her feet and let go of Jenny.

“Same planet? There was _actually_ a risk of us ending up on the wrong planet? I thought you said this was safe!”

The blonde frowned.

“Are we not safe here?”

“That’s not the point.”

Clara sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

“So, what am I supposed to do now? Stay with my dad? Tell him I lost his car in the middle of nowhere?”

“I can always go back to places I’ve already been,” Jenny told her. “It’s not lost! Would you like to go back?” She offered Clara her arm again.

“No!” Clara took a step back. "I’m fine. Thank you."

What _was_ she supposed to do now? She’d gotten lost, her car had broken down, she’d sat in the dark for two hours, and then some lady had appeared out of nowhere and transported her to Blackpool. It was all a bit much to take in; Clara wanted nothing more than to collapse in an exhausted heap.

“Right. I’m getting a hotel room and I’m going to sleep. I’ll deal with the rest of this mess in the morning.”


	2. departure

When Clara went down for breakfast in the morning, Jenny was already there, shoveling eggs into her mouth and reading a newspaper.

“’Morning!”

Clara’s tone was cheery. Having had the night to reconcile herself with the previous night’s events, she was feeling much more friendly towards the other woman. At least, after everything, she’d managed to get a good sleep.

“’Ello!” Jenny answered around her mouthful of eggs. As Clara sat down next to her, the blonde picked up a piece of bacon and inspected it before shoving it in, too. Clara wrinkled her nose and ordered French toast. 

“Do you think I could get a lift back to my car today?”

Jenny swallowed.

“Yep! I’ll take a look at it, too. Maybe I can fix it.”

“That’d be great.”

Relative silence reigned as Jenny finished her eggs and Clara waited for her food.

“So,” Clara said finally. “Anything interesting in the paper?”

“Oh yes!”

Jenny tilted it to show Clara what she was looking at.

“It’s a word search.”

Clara was unimpressed.

“I’ve never seen anything like it! What will people think of next? Do you have something to write with?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a pen in my purse.”

Happily, Jenny circled the word “tangerine”. Clara wondered vaguely if the blonde knew what a tangerine was. 

—

Jenny was true to her word.

The second time Clara travelled via vortex manipulator, she didn’t fall. She considered this to be somewhat of an accomplishment.

Her car was still there, too, which she was similarly pleased about.

To add to Clara’s pile of good things, Jenny was brilliant with repairs. She claimed to have done quite a few repairs on her “spaceship”; in comparison, a car was quite simple.

Clara got back into the driver’s seat and turned the vehicle on.

“Brilliant! And I didn’t even need to get it towed!”

She rolled down the windows.

“Thank you,” she said sincerely.

“You’re welcome! It was fun!”

“Where are you off to now?” Clara hesitated. She couldn’t just drive off and leave Jenny here, not after everything the blonde had done for her. Besides, her sunny disposition was admittedly charming. “Want a lift?”

“Really? Oh, please! I’ve never travelled by car!”

Clara couldn’t help but laugh.

“Come on, get in!" 

As soon as Jenny was in and had the door shut, Clara sped off, eager to be on her way.

— 

Clara had the radio set to a classic rock station. They must be close to out of range, Clara thought. The music was beginning to crackle with static.

“Change that to something clearer, would you? And not country.”

Jenny was delighted by the radio. She turned the dial left and right, not listening to any one station for longer than a couple seconds.

“Why are you doing that?” Clara asked after a minute. “Just pick something already!”

“There are so many!”

Eventually, Jenny settled on an alternative rock station Clara could deal with.

“We’re going to need to get gas soon. Do you want snacks?”

— 

Clara sent Jenny to buy food from the convenience store while she filled up the car. Jenny was going to get “whatever looked interesting”. Clara agreed, so long as there was at least one packet of crisps in there.

When Jenny came out with her purchases, Clara asked what she’d found.

Jenny hid the bag behind her back.

“You’ll see!”

“Alright."

— 

As Clara pulled out of the gas station, Jenny presented her findings.

Standard salt and vinegar crisps, pork rinds (“these sound weird; do they taste good?”), beef jerky, two bottles of iced tea, a box of cookies with raspberry filling, three different flavours of bubblegum.

—

Jenny loved the pork rinds and ate the whole bag by herself.

— 

They passed through several towns but didn’t stop unless they needed to find a bathroom. Mostly, they talked.

“What's the most interesting place you’ve been to so far?” Clara asked.

Jenny hummed.

“Maybe Paseba. The forests were breathtaking! Trees a mile high, and the structures were all built within them. No one walks on the ground there because there are wild things with lots of teeth. It was most beautiful at the top because it was warm and sunny, and you could see the moons in the sky.”

“That sounds amazing.”

“Maybe I’ll go back sometime. You could come!”

Clara smiled and kept her eyes on the road ahead.

“Maybe."

— 

They swapped stories til the sun began to set again. Jenny told Clara about the places she’d visited and all the interesting characters she’d met. Clara told Jenny about her family and the leaf that had led her parents to meet and all the places on Earth she planned to see.

At one point, she directed Jenny to her bag in the back seat.

“I’ve got a book in there. _101 Places to See_. It was my Mum’s.”

Jenny pulled it out and flipped through it carefully. 

“Isn’t it amazing how many things there are to look at on a single planet? I’ll never get tired of travelling!”

—

Neither of them wanted to stop that night, so they swapped spots. Jenny took the wheel and Clara slept in the passenger seat.

—

In the early morning, Jenny parked at the side of a road. She stared out the window as she waited for Clara to wake up. They were in between vast yellow fields: Jenny marveled at the colour.

“Where are we?” Clara mumbled.

“Who knows!”

“Why did we stop?”

“It’s pretty here, with the sun coming up. Don’t you think? I didn’t want you to miss it.”

“Mmm,” Clara agreed.

Jenny started the car again and turned around. 

“I passed a food place,” she told Clara. “Let’s go get breakfast.”

— 

“You have whipped cream on your nose.”

Clara looked down, going cross-eyed, and Jenny laughed.

“Here.”

Jenny reached across the small table and wiped Clara’s nose with her thumb, then stuck the digit in her mouth.

“You’re weird,” Clara told her matter-of-factly as she took another bite of her Belgian waffle.

Jenny smiled.

“I’ve been told that before.”

— 

“Where are we going next?”

“I thought…” Clara paused. “Maybe we could see some of the places in the book? I’d really love to see them all."

“Me too!”

“But then…”

“Hmm?”

“Maybe we could see that jungle planet you were talking about?”

The words came tumbling out of Clara mouth before she could stop them.

Jenny beamed.

“Oh yes, oh please! I’d love you to come!”

Clara grinned back. 

— 

They bought a map at a convenience store and visited every European location in the book. It took them two months.

—

At the end of the first week, sharing a motel room, Jenny kissed Clara in the bathroom doorway.

The brunette looked so cute in her pyjamas, holding her toothbrush, her hair down around her face.

She was thrilled when Clara kissed her back. 

— 

“So we’ve done Europe!” Clara declared, triumphant.

“Next: the world?” 

“World _s_!” 

They were back in Blackpool: Clara felt it would be irresponsible to abandon her dad’s car in a different country.

They sat side by side in the car, holding hands even before Jenny got out her trusty vortex manipulator.

“Ready?”

“If you are!”

The air in the car seemed to quiver and quake as the figures of the two women, hand in hand, disappeared from view.


End file.
